Exhibition: Patricia Urquiola

Even if you're not a fan of ceramics it's worth going to visit the  Patricia Urquiola'sPurely Porcelain, exhibition currently at London's Design Museum. Why? Because it's an opportunity to step into the head of a designer at the height of their powers and follow the creative process, says SpaceTM's Joe.

Spanish born Urquiola is known for her love of decoration. But there's no hint of the chintzy you'll find on your Grandmother's china. With Landscape, her recent porcelain range for the manufacturers Rosenthal, she has produced exceptionally fine, translucent forms embelleshed with quasi scientific patterns that suggest a zone somewhere between frost on a window and the layout of the periodic table.

"The pattern is erratic" explains Urquiola, "sometimes filling the form at other times escaping."

What's interesting about Purely Porcelain is that the exhibition documents the entire design process, tracing the idea from concept, through prototype, to finished product. How does she go from those random moments of inspiration to the final product? Well, you see doodles scribbled over bits of paper; then experimental patterns traced onto clear plastic stuck over practice bowls; and huge moulds to create porcelain tiles...

That said, Urquiola claims: "Ceramics are less about problem solving and more about our aesthetic and emotional response to them."

Isn't this essentially the definition of all good design?

Incidentally, want to buy some of Urquiola's Landscape collection...?